The first estimate of the 2024-2025 Chilean stone fruit export season released by the Chilean Stone Fruit Committee shows that shipments of Japanese and European plums, peaches, and nectarines will grow by 4% compared to the previous season, with shipments of around 38 million boxes (8.3 kg average), marking a record for the second consecutive time.

In statements reported by Frutas de Chile, Ignacio Caballero, executive director of the Chilean Stone Fruit Committee, said that “this estimate, which is still preliminary, shows that the sector is working to promote growth not only in volumes but also in the quality of the fruit, to stimulate greater consumption and better returns. All this leads us to project a new export record for our stone fruits.”

Caballero explained that this growth is in line with the strategy defined by the Committee, in terms of promoting the opportunity that exists for Chilean stone fruit in different world markets, in addition to Asia, to continue growing with a focus on improving the quality and consistency of the fruit being shipped.

He also pointed out that in terms of FOB values, they estimate that Chilean stone fruit shipments would exceed US$ 540 million, which reflects an increase of around 4% over the previous year.

“Of course, we must bear in mind that the final result in terms of value also depends on other factors such as the market, and freight, among others,” he said in a conversation with Frutas de Chile.

Chilean stone fruit markets

According to reports, in the 2023-2024 season, China took around 55% of Chilean nectarines and 63% of Chilean plum shipments, while North America (United States and Canada) received around 50% of peaches.

“This season, these markets will once again occupy an important place as a destination for our stone fruits, but the challenge will be to promote new destinations, such as Mexico and Brazil, which are large consumers of this fruit, for which the Stone Fruit Committee is working on implementing communication campaigns to highlight the qualities of Chilean varieties,” said Caballero.

Caballero also highlighted the 22% increase in nectarine shipments compared to the previous season, which will reach 14.1 million boxes (8 kilos each) this season.

“With this increase, nectarines would become, for the first time, the main species of the stone fruit group exported by our country. Within these exports, we estimate that around 9 million boxes would be of white-fleshed nectarines (63%) and 5.2 million boxes of yellow-fleshed nectarines (37%),” he said.

In peaches, exports would total 2.9 million boxes (8 kilos each), up 4% with respect to the previous season, which shows that this sector is returning to growth after the last two seasons of decline.